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For simple, affordable, and nutritious meals, chicken thighs can’t be beat. This Chicken Thigh Marinade is a mouth-watering blend of sweet and savory flavors, perfect for grilling, baking or broiling your chicken.
Love chicken thighs? Be sure to try my Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs or Greek Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs next.
Why You’ll Love This Marinade Recipe
- Versatile – Use it for any cut of chicken, pork or beef!
- All-Purpose – Marinade and grill, bake or broil your chicken!
- Easy to Make – The marinade takes about 5 minutes to whisk together.
- Tender and Juicy – This marinade creates the most mouth-watering grilled chicken thighs.
Why Chicken Thighs?
Chicken thighs are just as delicious as chicken breasts, and might I add easier to cook, more versatile and more forgiving!
- Easy to Cook and Relatively Foolproof – As hard as you may try it is difficult to overcook chicken thighs thanks to a slightly higher fat content.
- They’re Versatile – You can use just about any seasoning you like.
- Budget Friendly – You’ll find boneless skinless chicken thighs cost less per pound than chicken breasts.
What you need
Marinade Ingredients and Substitutions
- Brown Sugar – Light or dark, whichever you happen to have on hand. Don’t have brown sugar? Try honey as a substitute.
- Soy Sauce – Opt for low-sodium soy sauce so you can control the salt level.
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Dijon Mustard – Not every kitchen has dijon on hand, and if you don’t have any on hand, Worcestershire sauce will do in a pinch. I recommend using about a tablespoon.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh squeezed is best, but bottled is fine. Lime juice is also delicious.
- Olive Oil
- Garlic Powder – or a clove of fresh garlic.
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Fresh Herbs – Like parsley or thyme (optional)
- Chicken Thighs – I used boneless skinless thighs to create this marinade recipe, but it works with any cut of chicken.
How To Marinate Chicken Thighs
See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions
- Place the chicken thighs into a resealable plastic bag.
- Whisk the marinade together in a bowl.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken in the plastic bag. Seal, pressing out as much air as possible to ensure that all the surface area of the chicken is covered with the marinade. Gently massage to coat.
How Long Should You Marinate Chicken Thighs?
With this marinade, you have a few options:
- Prepare the marinade, add the chicken and marinate for 20-30 minutes at room temperature while you prep other elements of the meal. Then cook as directed.
- Place the chicken in the bag with the marinade and refrigerate for 2-24 hours. Any longer and the texture may become mushy
- Place the chicken and marinade in a freezer bag and freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
Cooking Instructions
This chicken marinade is versatile and can be used for baking, broiling, or grilling your chicken thighs. Here’s a quick run-down of each (assuming you are using boneless, skinless chicken thighs):
- Grilled Chicken Thighs: Heat an outdoor grill to medium heat (about 350-400℉). Grill chicken for 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, tent with foil and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Baked Chicken Thighs: Bake for 25-30 minutes at 425℉. Broil for a few minutes at the end for deeper color. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
- Broiled Chicken Thighs: Preheat the broiler and adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Line a broiling pan with foil or use a cast iron skillet. Broil for about 20 minutes, basting with any reserved and unused marinade. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Chicken goes with anything right? You can serve this chicken marinade with pasta like Stovetop Mac and Cheese or Macaroni Salad. You can serve it over rice or with a side of sweet potato wedges.
If I’m grilling the chicken, I love to just grill the whole meal. So I’d add some yummy Grilled Zucchini and Grilled Potatoes.
Be sure to serve some lemon wedges with your chicken for a burst of freshness with every bite!
Storage Tips
How To Store Leftovers
Let chicken cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or resealable plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Add chilled to salads and sandwiches or reheat in the microwave.
To freeze fully cooked chicken, cool and store in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as desired.
Recipe Tips
- IMPORTANT NOTE – Do not use reuse the marinade. If you would like to use some of the marinade for basting the chicken as it cooks, make sure to set some aside before you use it. Once it touches the raw chicken it may become contaminated with harmful bacteria. Any marinade that is leftover from the meat should be discarded.
- You can prepare the marinade ahead up to 3 days. If the olive oil solidifies in the fridge, just let it sit out for about 20 minutes. It will soften and liquify and you should be good to go.
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs can be baked, broiled or grilled with this marinade. However if you’d like to use bone-in chicken thighs, I recommend you start with pan roasting, to sear all sides, then finish in the oven.
- Add some fresh herbs, like chopped parsley to the marinade for brightness.
- Leftovers are great for meal prep – making sandwiches, tacos, wraps and salads for the week ahead! Just chop up the chicken thighs and add them to your favorite meals.
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
- Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs
- Fried Chicken Thighs
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- BBQ Baked Chicken Thighs
- Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs
- 19 Recipes for Boneless Chicken Thighs
Grilled Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
Marinade
- Prepare the chicken: Place chicken thighs in a resealable plastic bag.
- Prepare the Marinade: Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
- Cover/Seal: Pour the marinade over the chicken in the plastic bag. Seal, pressing out as much air as possible to ensure that all the surface area of the chicken is covered. Gently massage to coat. If cooking right away, set the chicken aside for 20-30 minutes then cook as desired.
- Refrigerate: Refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Any longer and the texture of the meat may change.
- Freeze: Place chicken and marinade in a resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and cook as desired.
Cooking
- Grill: Heat an outdoor grill to medium heat (about 350-400℉). Grill chicken for 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, tent with foil and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes at 425℉. If desired, broil for a few minutes at the end for deeper color. Tent with foil and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Broil: Preheat the broiler and adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Line a broiling pan with foil or use a cast iron skillet. Broil chicken for about 20 minutes, basting with any reserved and unused marinade or juices from the pan. Tent with foil and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- If desired, garnish with fresh chopped parsley or other fresh herbs just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Loved it. Very easy too.
Thank you Lesla for sharing your positive experience.
Jumping to the end, the chicken was really good.
The marinade smelled like Chex mix awesome. I followed the directions as written. Marinated thighs and drum sticks, 90 minutes.
I used a Weber charcoal grill, set up for indirect heat, but grilled over the hot side with a lid temp of 350F.
The only thing I would change on my system would be to turn more often and extend the cooking time. Yes, I did not take a temperature reading as I should have, but it was a hectic day.
Bar-none, this is an in my back pocket, in the recipe file, and in my farm truck’s glove box kind of recipe. Thank you.
Thank you Eric for sharing your positive feedback and experience. thanks for stopping by!
Great recipe. Easy and such great taste.
This was so good!! Honestly best grilled chicken we’ve ever had, and we grill A LOT! I subbed a few things, did coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, coconut sugar instead of brown sugar (was out of brown sugar), and pineapple juice instead of lemon juice. YUM!! My 18 month old loved it too! We only had time to let it marinate for a few hours and that was plenty! The marinade creates like a glaze over the chicken, so yum!!
Thank you Kelly! So happy that you and your family loved this recipe!
This is hands down the best chicken thigh marinade ever! This will be a summer staple in my fridge, for sure. Thank you for sharing:)
You’re so welcome Noelle! thank you so much for stopping by!
Kristin, Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. This is my first time trying out the Recipe for my Family and my mother’s 90th birthday party picnic. It couldn’t be that easy, but the ingredients sound delicious , putting them all together.
Nice! Thank you Susan.
One of the best marinades ever!!!
Made on Saturday, on my way to the grill to make it again
Excellent Recipe..
Thank you Jose!
Amazing! Perfect for bone-in chicken thighs. Think this will be our new summer standard. We served with spinach salad and grilled corn on the cob. Numerous compliments!!
Yummy! Thanks for stopping by Roxanne.
OUTSTANDING! DELICIOUS!! SIMPLE!!! WE USED REAL GARLIC AND SOME HERBS (ROSEMARY AND THYME). THIS IS A FANTASTIC, TASTY RECIPE. (SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOCK PROBLEM) A NEW FAVORITE!!!!!!
Thank you Darduggle! and thanks for sharing your experience!
Marinade is delicious. I added some fresh ginger and garlic. Skipped the lemon juice. Substituted salt for fish sauce. And finally used palm sugar (coconut sugar) in place of brown sugar. Will also add some green onion to the marinade next time as I made an extra batch and stored in an airtight container in my fridge. I think this would be good on some pork ribs!
Hi Jane, Great ideas, love that you made it your own!
Omg. I have the most picky husband but trying this marinade i finally found something he loves this will be on our grilling rotation permanently. Thank you very much.
That’s Awesome Aya! thanks for stopping by.
This was awesome! The only problem was there was not any left overs for me!!! Will use this recipe again and again and again! Thanks!!
Nice! thanks Jackie!
Amazing marinade!! My picky family loved it, I used Worcestershire sauce in place of soy sauce and added more lemon juice and garlic powder to it. I made twice the amount that I usually would and had no leftovers at all
That’s awesome Leora! So happy that you and your family loved this recipe!
Grilling chicken thighs tonight and this marinade sounds spot on! They’ve been soaking in a brine for a couple of hours, now I am going to throw this yummy marinade together and let those puppies soak it up for a couple of hours!
Will pop back in to give my star rating, how it was, if I tweaked it at all, etc.
Great marinade! Used on bone-in, skin on chicken thighs. Didn’t have garlic powder so I added 3 fresh minced cloves of garlic. Only had time to marinate a little over an hour in the fridge but turned out awesome!
Thank you Jess!
Made this chicken tonight, turned out great!!!
Thank you Jene! So glad you enjoyed it!
I made these last night and they were delish. I am a cook and they are perfect as is. The marinade took seconds to put together, has the perfect combination of sweet, salt and tang, and does not use too much oil. I grilled boneless, skinless thighs for 6 minutes per side and they were melt in your mouth juicy. I will keep this as my “go to” chicken marinade from now on.
Going to try this today sounds yummy